North Carroll sweeps into region semis Kennedy is no match for Panthers' size, serving

November 08, 1995|By Glenn P. Graham | Glenn P. Graham,SUN STAFF

WHEATON -- The North Carroll Panthers traveled to Montgomery County last night to take on Kennedy with no idea what they were getting into.

They found a Cavalier team that was young and pesky, but simply no match for them.

The Panthers needed a little more than an hour to advance to the Class 3A West region semifinals, coming away with a three-game sweep of Kennedy. The scores were 15-7, 15-10 and 15-3.

North Carroll's size advantage and strong serving was too much for Kennedy, who returned only one starter from last year.

Junior hitter Karen Carter had the big night at the net for the Panthers, finishing with 18 kills and five blocks.

The Panthers (13-3) also had plenty of balance with junior Carisa Kreichauf a big factor up front when Carter wasn't there and a fine all-around effort from junior Lisa Beverly, whose strong jump serve gave the Cavaliers problems throughout the match.

"Karen and Carisa just dominate the net. We play them opposite, so teams just don't get a break," said North Carroll coach Don'a Martin.

"Lisa and Kathleen Tunney aren't quite as big, but they make it tough, too, for teams to get balls down on them."

Martin said the atmosphere was a big reason the Panthers got off to a slow start.

Kennedy (5-10) had a 6-5 lead in the first game before North Carroll called timeout, regrouped and rolled to a 15-7 win behind three kills from Carter and the serving of Beverly.

"There just wasn't a lot of excitement. We have a very young team that likes to get fired up and is used to playing in front of a bigger crowd," Martin said.

"It looked like there were more North Carroll fans than Kennedy fans and they were the home team."

The Cavaliers stayed close for awhile in the second game, largely due to the serving of senior Helen Lim, the lone returning starter.

But after the Cavaliers got even at six, the Panthers pulled away for the 15-10 win.

Senior Wendy Redmer had a couple of big service points and the Panthers closed out the game when Lim's hit went wide on Beverly's serve.

After Kennedy took a 3-0 lead in the deciding game, the Panthers answered with 15 straight points to close out the match.

Tunney took serve with the Panthers leading 5-3 and rattled off 10 straight points for the win.